Two World Cup stars to miss Chelsea game vs Bournemouth

Chelsea manager Graham Potter has confirmed they will be without their two World Cup stars Hakim Ziyech and Mateo Kovacic during the match against Bournemouth on Tuesday.

This comes as the two Chelsea players who went furthest in the World Cup, were yet to rejoin their group after their impressive form in Qatar.

‘We’re still waiting on Hakim and Mateo. They went to the third/fourth place play-off and played the games, so a big demand for those two. It’s important to give them a little bit of time. They won’t be available for the game as a consequence.

‘Everybody else has been back and we’ve had a few days training with all of them. It’s a bit of a mix across the 12 [at the World Cup] in terms of when they got knocked out and how much game time they played. They’ve dripped back in according to their own circumstance, and I have to say they have come back in a really good way.’